Chapter 340: From Acceptance to Assault (3)

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“Look, Loren, look!” 

“I’m looking. You don’t have to be so excited.”

Loren responded to Lapis’ loud, joyous voice, which echoed through the quiet town, with a wry smile.

A town without a single inhabitant was a very eerie place. But the subdued atmosphere was blown away by Lapis’ shout, brought about by the mountain of treasures that were piled up before their eyes.

Loren’s team had immediately begun their investigation after entering the town of Mercila. Half way through, Empire soldiers had gathered from various parts of the town a number of properties belonging to the residents who had disappeared and piled them up. Not only hard currency of gold and silver, but also furnishings such as ornaments and candlesticks; anything that looked valuable was collected and put into a heap.

“Is this part of the investigation?”

“It’s the investigation. There might be magic tools in here that might have caused this phenomenon.”

“It’s not what you say, but how you say it, right?”

Lapis and Gula had already established that the person who had caused the unusual phenomenon was probably Noel, a dark elf who had come to possess the power of Lust and was a follower of Magna, the black swordsman who had been causing problems for Loren and his party.

Loren thought that if that was the case, there was no need for further investigation. But regardless of how much he believed this, Lapis insisted on conducting a proper investigation and asked the Empire soldiers to collect the properties left behind in the town.

Perhaps because of Yuri’s instructions, the soldiers did not seem to show any displeasure at Lapis’ request, even though Loren’s team was supposed to be outsiders; they quickly split up to gather the assets remained in the town and gathered them at the town square, where Lapis had taken up a position.

“The treasures of an entire town are right in front of you, Loren. It’s not often one gets to see a sight like this, so you should enjoy it while you still can.”

“I’m in the midst of being devastated by the fact that I can’t clear my debt, even with all the money I’ve accumulated.”

In contrast to Lapis’ good mood, Loren’s expression turned sombre as the treasures piled up. 

They had collected almost all of the goods left in the city, but even if he spent all of them, Loren still would not be able to settle the debt he owed.

Once again being shown the reality of the burden he was carrying, there was no way he could be as buoyant as Lapis, and he simply felt his mood sinking.

“It would be nice if there was a way to clear it all at once.”

The debt that Loren was carrying was caused by him accidentally destroying part of the castle of the Great Demon King, who ruled the entire demon race, when he entered the demons’ territory in the past.

The amount of money would not have been so out of the ordinary if it were a normal castle, and Loren still felt cheated even after all this time. But when the other party was the Great Demon King, just protesting might cost him his life. 

Moreover, even if he did try to protest, Loren had a feeling that the Great Demon King would, with a calm smile, parry his objections so perfect that he would not even be able to make a sound.

It was promised by the Great Demon King and Lapis’ mother, a Demon King, that if he married Lapis, the entire amount would be cleared. It seemed that they considered it the dowry, but Loren did not think it would be good to have such a relationship with Lapis as a collateral.

However, when he was presented with such a pile of goods and told that even this would not be enough, he wondered if he could repay the debt at his own discretion.

“Now now, Lapis-chan. Using debt to tie Loren up might seem fine for a demon, but it has turned out to be a bad move, hasn’t it?”

“I think it’s true, considering Loren’s character. No matter, I’ll think of some other way.”

Behind Loren, who was looking up at the pile of goods with a gloomy face, Gula and Lapis were secretly exchanging such a conversation.

From the point of view of Lapis, who had promised to work with Loren until he could clear his debt, she had almost achieved her goal of always staying by his side by making him take on a debt that he could not pay off. However, she somehow knew from past experience that Loren’s personality would not allow him to move forward unless he could settle the debt.

But if the debt were to be settled in some way, Lapis was not certain that Loren would behave the way she wanted afterwards. In the worst-case scenario, there was a possibility that their current relationship would end, and Lapis, who considered it unsavoury to eliminate the debt, was always thinking of ways to somehow make the ending she envisioned into reality. 

“I definitely won’t let him get away!”

“Scary. This child is really scary.” 

Gula looked at Lapis, who was clenching her fist with a new determination burning in her eyes, as if she were looking at some incomprehensible being and quickly pulled away.

Meanwhile, the Empire soldiers were faithful to their duties, and after a certain point, Lapis began to appraise the goods that had been piled up.

“Basically, we don’t have to appraise the worth of items. In this case, we will sneak out more valuable stuff.” 

While Loren was impressed by how thorough the soldiers carried out Yuri’s instruction, Lapis quickly sorted out the gold and platinum coins and carelessly moved the silver and copper ones to the side. She then stuffed them into a jute bag the soldiers had brought out from somewhere in a rather haphazard manner.

Although coins varied in design from country to country, the proportion of metal used to produce them was the same, and unless there was something wrong with the coins, they were traded at roughly the same value in every country. Therefore, regardless of whether the Kingdom had been destroyed or not, the coins collected here would not be affected.

“I am now checking the ornaments. There is a high possibility that there are magic tools among these items. Even a shabby ring can cost as much as a mansion, depending on the magic that has been granted to it.”

While Gula was sending the gold and platinum coins that Lapis had selected to the Evil Gods’ abode, Lapis began to appraise her next catch.

Loren looked at the Empire soldiers with a questioning look, wondering if such blatant embezzlement was alright. But they did not seem to notice Loren’s gaze at all, and were immersed in loading the bags containing the enormous amount of copper and silver coins onto a cart, which they had also apparently collected from somewhere. 

“It seems like there aren’t any good designers in the Kingdom. The designs are a bit old-fashioned or behind the times… And the precious metals used are often mixed. The gemstones are also of poor quality from the many scratches they have.”

The ornaments that were not suitable for Lapis’ eyes were carelessly tossed aside. Those items, which Loren thought might still be worth a fair amount of cash, were picked up and stuffed into jute bags by the soldiers.

“This one, I have the feeling that it will fetch a higher price if we melt down the base and polish the gems individually. Oh, this is a magic tool. It has the magic of imbued. It is a very good item.”

As she was about to throw the ring in her hand toward Gula while muttering the results of her appraisal, an Empire soldier gently held Lapis’ wrist.

Thinking that he was about to accuse Lapis of embezzlement, Loren prepared himself, but the soldier apologized for his impoliteness in touching Lapis’ body before saying. 

“Such magic tools will be of great help to the Empire army. Could we please have it?”

“It can’t be helped then.”

was an excellent spell that, when applied, would eliminate a certain amount of the damage the subject suffered.

Whether it consumed the user’s magic power or had a limited number of uses was not known, but if it existed as a magic tool in the form of a ring, it was a fine item that was coveted not only by adventurers but also by soldiers, who made fighting their livelihood and profession. That was why Lapis did not show any reluctance when hearing the soldier’s request and simply handed the ring over to him.

Loren, who had expected some resistance, looked surprised at Lapis’ obedient response. Noticing this, Lapis secretly whispered to him without stopping her appraisal.

“If there is something really good, I’ll snatch it away without saying anything.”

Loren wondered how she would manage that, but it was clear that no one could stop Lapis from doing so.

After all, the only person here who had the skills to appraise magic tools was Lapis. In other words, if she decided to remain silent, no one would be able to question her.

“But, do ordinary citizens have such magic tools?”

“There are a surprisingly large number of them. Many people look for magic tools at a reasonable price.”

According to Lapis, there were many people who sought magic tools besides adventurers and soldiers, such as aristocrats and merchants of big stores. She explained that even if they were not in the midst of battle, there was always a certain amount of danger lurking around them from day to day, which is why there was always a need for tools imbued with something like a magic.

“This one has effect. Here, take this too.”

Lapis tossed the soldier a necklace with a single green stone hanging from it. It did not look like much of a bargain to Loren’s eyes, but if it healed wounds just by wearing it, it was worth a lot of money.

“The most popular products are , , and . These are the top sellers, regardless of appearance.”

Although he found this to be a very bleak story, Loren thought that they should keep some for themselves. He told this to Lapis in secret, but she simply shook her head.

“I can do most of those things. And in your case, if you don’t give up the greatsword on your back, you are protected to a level that cannot be matched by these magical equipment.”

With that, Lapis placed a ring in Loren’s palm.

The unadorned copper ring looked like it could be exchanged for a few copper coins at a local street vendor, but the fact that Lapis went to the trouble of giving it to him suggested that it was a magical tool of some kind.

“That’s an ring… Loren, can you wear it?”

Loren compared his finger with the ring on his palm. 

Loren’s fingers, trained to wield a greatsword, were thick and knobby. It did not look as if the ring Lapis had given him could fit.

“The high-end ones can be adjusted for size, but the ones we have here are the kind you can get for a bit of money. They won’t fit you, Loren.”

Loren, who had expected such a thing, offered the ring to one of the soldiers.

As he watched the soldier carefully took it and put it away in a separate bag from the rest of the goods, he realized that being large could be a bit inconvenient at times.

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